The U.S. at a glance ... NEWS 7
Texas
Ongoing emergency: President Biden
issued a major disaster declaration for
Texas last week and vowed during a visit
to the state that the federal government
would help it to “recover and rebuild”
over “the long haul.” The declaration
allowed federal resources to flow to 126
counties battered by a once-in-a-genera-
tion polar vortex that knocked out almost
185 power plants and left 4 million peo-
ple without power for days. Meanwhile,
lawmakers began investigating how
shrunken capacity sent wholesale energy
prices surging more than 400 percent over
last year’s average. State Attorney General
Ken Paxton sued the utility Griddy, saying
it misled customers on costs, leaving some
on the hook for charges of thousands of
dollars in a single week. DeAnn Walker,
the chairwoman of the Public Utility
Commission that oversees Texas’ utili-
ties, resigned. While power has largely
returned, almost 390,000 Texans were
still under boil-water advisories this week.Clinton County, Mich.
Suicide follows charges: A former U.S.
Olympic women’s gymnastics coach shot
himself at a highway rest stop hours after
being charged with human trafficking as
well as sexually assaulting a teenage girl.
John Geddert, 63, allegedly forced gym-
nasts to work under conditions of extreme
physical and emotional abuse. Geddert
had close ties to Larry Nassar, the doc-
tor now in prison for years of sexually
assaulting gymnasts. At Nassar’s sentenc-
ing in 2018, gymnasts singled out Geddert
for his abusiveness. One testified that
Geddert repeatedly told her she should
kill herself, and ultimately ended her
career when he threw her so hard that she
was left with ruptured lymph nodes in her
neck. John Manly, a lawyer who repre-
sents victims of Geddert, said the human-
trafficking charges against Geddert sent a
message to others in the sport. “It tells the
other John Gedderts that if you do this,
you will be held accountable.”San Diego, Calif.
Six Seuss books shelved:
Dr. Seuss Enterprises—the
company that oversees
the licensing and pub-
lication of Dr. Seuss
books—said this week
it would stop publishing
six titles that “portray
people in ways that are
hurtful and wrong.” The
announcement follows a review by a
panel of experts. The nixed titles, which
include And to Think That I Saw It on
Mulberry Street, On Beyond Zebra!,
McElligot’s Pool, and Scrambled Eggs
Super!, have been condemned for their
portrayal of Asian and black people. The
decision was announced on Read Across
America Day—the birthday of Theodor
Seuss Geisel, who wrote under the pen
name Dr. Seuss, and a day long associated
with his books. Former first lady Michelle
Obama once celebrated the day
by reading The Cat in the Hat to
children. The move to cease pub-
lishing the six books sparked
outrage from conservatives,
who said that Dr. Seuss was
being “canceled.”Hendersonville, N.C.
Dishonesty: Newly
elected Rep. Madison
Cawthorn (R.-N.C.)
told multiple lies about
his history prior to
running for Congress,
and 150-plus students
at his college signed a
letter accusing him of
being a sexual predator.
The Washington Post reported last week
that while Cawthorn, 25, claimed his
best friend “left him for dead” after a car
accident that left him partially paralyzed,
the friend maintains that he in fact pulled
Cawthorn to safety; Cawthorn now says
that he has no memory of the accident.
Cawthorn also said that he was rejected
by the U.S. Naval Academy because of
his injuries. In fact, he had already been
turned down by the Academy. Cawthorn
enrolled in Patrick Henry College in
Virginia and stayed for only one
semester. Female classmates there
say that he would drive them
to remote places and try to kiss
them, growing furious when his
advances were refused. “It was
very scary,” one told the Post.Arizona
Voting rights: Several Supreme
Court justices signaled this week that
they were likely to uphold two Arizona
laws that set new restrictions on vot-
ing, which Democrats argued violate the
Voting Rights Act. The two laws would
discard ballots cast in the wrong precinct
and prohibit most third parties from col-
lecting and turning in absentee ballots on
voters’ behalf. Lawyers defending the laws
on behalf of state Republicans argued that
legislatures set the “time, place, or man-
ner” of elections, and that state laws do
not breach the
Voting Rights
Act unless the
burden they
place on racial
minorities
is “substan-
tial.” In oral
arguments,
the court
appeared to struggle with establishing a
more general test to determine what kinds
of voting limits would run afoul of the
1965 legislation. The case, Brnovich v.
Democratic National Committee, repre-
sents the first time that the high court is
being asked to strike down voting regula-
tions because they would impose a dispro-
portionate burden on minorities.Manatee County, Fla.
Jumping the queue: Gov. Ron DeSantis
faced calls for a federal investigation
from Democrats this week after state
officials organized “pop-up” vaccination
centers for three high-priced retirement
communities built by politically connected
developers. The two sites in Manatee
County and one in Charlotte County
let 6,000 people skip the state’s official
waiting list for Covid-19 vaccinations.
“We can’t play favorites,” said Harvey
Goldstein, a senior who had been wait-
listed, yet did not get a call to participate
in one of the state-sponsored drives
despite living only a few minutes from
the pop-up’s location. Richard Uihlein,
whose family company helped develop
the Lakewood Ranch community, where
one of the pop-ups was held, donated
$900,000 to the Friends of Ron DeSantis
PAC. Patrick Neal, who has interests in all
three communities, contributed $125,000.
A spokesperson for the governor called
the idea
that politics
played a role
in choos-
ing vaccine
distribution
sites “base-
less and
Re ridiculous.”
ute
rs^
(^2 )
,^ A
P
Canceled? CawthornVoting in ArizonaGov. DeSantis